Tinsukia/Imphal, May 19: Organic tea produced by the Singpho tribesmen of Upper Assam and small growers in neighbouring Manipur is set to take the global market by storm.
World Community Development Education Society (WCDES), a Vancouver-based NGO, has joined hands with Singpho tea producers to produce and market organic tea in North America. The Manipur-based Foundation for Environment and Economic Services (FEEDS) has done likewise, signing agreements with three companies from Germany, Japan and the UK.
The Singpho tribe claims to have introduced organic tea to the British way back in the 18th century. But global curiosity about the many benefits of drinking this type of tea was not aroused until recently.
The Singpho organic tea project is the brainchild of Peggy Carswell, a volunteer with the Vancouver NGO. ?The organisation did extensive research on organic tea five years back. It is now helping us to make production of organic tea a full-fledged industry,? Rajesh Singpho, who owns a 100-bigha tea garden, said.
WCDES will provide educational and technical support to small growers in cultivating, processing and packaging organic tea. It will also identify and develop markets for ?Singpho tribal teas? in India and North America. Partnerships with organisations based in India, Canada and Southeast Asia are in the offing.
In neighbouring Manipur, FEEDS president Haokholet Kipgen is working on a similar project. He recently signed an agreement with representatives of three foreign companies ? based in Germany, Japan and the UK ? in Calcutta. These companies have tied up with the Kangpokpi-based NGO to set up an organic tea factory and market the product across the world.
Kipgen?s organisation has already begun manual production ?on a trial basis?. The machines will be installed by September and production is scheduled to start latest by March next year.
The Tea Board of India has recognised Manipur as a ?non-traditional tea sector? and FEEDS and small growers are getting grants under a particular scheme. Some tea companies, including Rangnid tea estate of Darjeeling, have expressed their willingness to be associated with the NGO.
One thing that worries Kipgen is the fluidity of the law and order situation in Manipur. ?The foreign companies associated with us are concerned, too. But they are committed to the project. Representatives of these companies told me that they would not back out if we proceeded with a full understanding of the local situation and social factors,? he said.
Manipur consumes an estimated 40 lakh kg of tea annually. The tea factory being set up by FEEDS is expected to produce 1.5 lakh kg per year.